A Nudging Approach to Promote Healthier and More Sustainable Food Consumption and Lifestyles at the University of Milano-Bicocca

Since it was founded in 1998, the University of Milano-Bicocca has worked to make its structures environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable, not only to reduce the costs and environmental impact of its management processes, but also to promote sustainable behaviour on the part of its employees, lecturers and students. This report focuses on the measures implemented by the university in order to make food consumption and lifestyles healthier and more sustainable. Inspired by nudge theory (according to which in order to achieve a change in behaviour it is necessary to act on indirect encouragement and enablement rather than on direct instruction, enforcement and punishment), these measures aimed to promote healthier and more appropriate styles of food consumption, in particular at university canteens. The interventions were oriented both towards offering healthier products and towards modifying the environment in order to encourage more balanced food choices. The programme of interventions was divided into three phases: firstly an investigation of eating behaviours and lifestyles; secondly planning the interventions; and finally evaluating the project and disseminating good practice

Environmental Performance of Road Asphalts Modified with End-of-Life Hard Plastics and Graphene: Strategies for Improving Sustainability

Road construction takes a heavy toll on the environment. Therefore, innovative strategies to improve the environmental performances of this sector are needed, and the use of recycled materials (e.g., plastic) has been recently pursued to achieve this goal. The present work aims to (i) assess the environmental benefits deriving from the use of recycled hard plastics in combination with graphene to generate a new bitumen modifier and related asphalt mixture (AM) formulations (ii) to compare the performance of the bitumen modified using this new modifier with the bitumen modified using a traditional polymer (Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene, SBS) and the non-modified bitumen. A detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study was performed according to a cradle-to-cradle approach. Different scenarios were compared, including the variability of the pavement's layers thickness and the amount of reclaimed asphalt pavement during the road maintenance cycles. The results demonstrated that the addition of the innovative modifier enhanced the structural performance of AMs, which turns into pavement extended durability, reduced maintenance cycles as well as into reduction in raw material use. The innovative asphalt modifier also creates a synergistic effect by offering a valuable alternative to hard plastic incineration by using it as a secondary raw material. This analysis allowed us to indicate the new-modified AM as the solution with the least environmental burden in all impact categories, suggesting its significant role in implementing new strategies to improve the environmental sustainability of road pavements.ISSN:2227-971

Conversion from coppice to high stand increase soil erosion in steep forestland of European beech

In forestlands on steep slopes, where the shallow soil can be considered a non renewable resource, erosion is of special concern. The vegetation covers, at both soil and canopy level, provides essential protection to the soil against the rainfall erosivity and reduces considerably the water erosion rate. Consequently vegetation management may affect soil erosion. We focused our attention on old coppice beech forest growing on a steep slope (28-32°) and subjected to conversion to high stand. With the aim of obtaining information on surface water flow and the mineral soil loss, three runoff-erosion plots (10 m long  3 m wide) were installed in catchments in Lombardy Alps (Intelvi Valley, Como) at three stands: a coppice 40 years old (CpS 1968) and two conversions from coppice to high forest respectively cut in 1994 (CvS 1994) and 2004 (CvS 2004). Water run-off and sediment losses were collected from June to October 2008 and from May to October 2009 together with stand characteristics, LAI, soil surface cover, canopy cover and fine-root traits. Our results showed that the conversion practices significantly affect the water runoff and soil erosion with the younger conversion CvS 2004 showing the highest erosivity. This was due to the lower values of tree density, canopy cover, soil surface cover and fine-root biomass and length. The old coppice stand (CpS 1968) together with the older conversion stand (CvS 1994) showed comparable values of soil erosion. Therefore, the major role in protecting soil from erosion played by old coppice stand is recovered by the conversion stand after a number of years since harvesting. Our study highlights that abandoned old coppice stand plays an important role in protecting soil from erosion and claims consideration in forest management of steep forestland stands

BASE: a sustainable path for the University of Milano-Bicocca

Since its foundation, in 1998, the University of Milano-Bicocca has been pursuing the objective to make its structures sustainable from an environmental, social and economic point of view. To this end, in 2015 the University of Milano-Bicocca created BASE (Bicocca Ambiente Società Economia - Bicocca Environment Society Economy), an internal office aimed at promoting the interaction between research and training and at stimulating sustainability both within the University and outside. BASE proposes a holistic approach to sustainability including energy efficiency, waste reduction, sustainable mobility, climate change attention and water and food supply. The report will focus on the interventions recently carried out in the various fields, paying particular attention to the issues of waste management and of mobility

BASE: a sustainable path for the University of Milano-Bicocca

Since its foundation, in 1998, the University of Milano-Bicocca has been pursuing the objective to make its structures sustainable from an environmental, social and economic point of view. To this end, in 2015 the University of Milano-Bicocca created BASE (Bicocca Ambiente Società Economia - Bicocca Environment Society Economy), an internal office aimed at promoting the interaction between research and training and at stimulating sustainability both within the University and outside. BASE proposes a holistic approach to sustainability including energy efficiency, waste reduction, sustainable mobility, climate change attention and water and food supply. The report will focus on the interventions recently carried out in the various fields, paying particular attention to the issues of waste management and of mobility

Stem Cells

The main objective of this book is to present a thorough update on stem cell research and the potential therapeutic applications of stem cells. The text is structured following a path that starts from the molecular basics and the biological properties of pluripotent, embryonic or reprogrammed stem cells, and it compares the different degrees of stemness, while describing the adult stem populations residing in the various tissues and organs of the human body. Starting from basic research, the book discusses examples of regenerative medicine that translate the experimental findings into clinical applications of cell therapy. Finally, the book reviews how stem cells represent a model to understand not only the physiological mechanisms that control their fate, but also the pathological mechanisms involved in the aberrant biology of cancer stem cells. Each chapter has been conceived by distinguished researchers in the field who provide detailed and updated contributions that distill knowledge in a very readable text. Laura Bonsi is Associate Professor of Histology at the Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine of the University of Bologna. Francesco Alviano is Assistant Professor of Histology at the Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine of the University of Bologna. Prof. Bonsi and Dr. Alviano are authors of numerous scientific papers published in international journals. They coordinate the Biotechnology Laboratory of Human Stem Cells at the University of Bologna, that is focused on the study of stem cells isolated from different sources, above all from extraembryonic tissues such as the placenta, the umbilical cord, and the fetal membranes. They are longterm members of the International Placenta Stem Cell Society (IPLASS)

Strategic R&D Programme on Technologies for Future Experiments - Annual Report 2020

This report summarises the activities and achievements of the strategic R&D programme on technologies for future experiments in the year 2020